1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image pickup device having a function of guiding a photographer so as to enable more suitable photographing.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-086284, filed Apr. 8, 2011, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
All patents, patent applications, patent publications, scientific articles, and the like, which will hereinafter be cited or identified in the present application, will hereby be incorporated by reference in their entirety in order to describe more fully the state of the art to which the present invention pertains.
A user can travel to a tourist spot or a scenic spot with a camera, and photograph a subject such as a temple, a castle, or natural scenery such as a mountain or a garden that is present there. With regard to the mentality of a traveler or a photographer, when he/she sees a subject directly after finally arriving at and entering a tourist spot such as a garden, his/her mood is elevated. As such, when the traveler or the photographer is overtaken with excitement with the subject which he/she first sees, takes photographs only there, and is satisfied with his/her photographing, he/she wants to move on to the next tourist point in a hurry, without regard to whether there is a more recommended photographing place in which the subject can be photographed in a more characteristic and clear manner. Then, when the traveler or the photographer reviews the photographs taken at that time, he/she frequently has a different impression such as that the photograph would show the subject larger or more clearly. The traveler or the photographer often regrets that he/she should have taken a photograph at another place or angle at that time.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2009-239397 discloses a method in which, to enable a photographer to take a photograph with a favorable composition even at a location that the photographer is visiting for the first time, based on information about a photographing position corresponding to a reference photograph obtained from a server and his/her own current position, a photographing device guides the photographer to the photographing position corresponding to the reference photograph, and instructs the photographing position based on a photographing state of the photographer so that a composition corresponding to the photographing state of the photographer is consistent with a composition of the reference photograph.
In the method of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2009-239397, the photographer needs to manipulate the camera on the spot to search for a place suitable for photographing, obtain the reference photograph from the external server using a network line, and decide the composition for himself/herself based on the obtained reference photograph. When the photographer wants to take a photograph in a photographing direction different from that instructed by the reference photograph in the process of deciding the composition, the photographer needs to manipulate the camera again from selection of the reference photograph.